Jyllands-Posten sore and sorry no doubt…

…However, the threats by extremists continue to vailidate the cartoonists. The time and oppurtunity is here for moderate muslims to demonstrate an alternative. Times of hardship are the exact moments when non-aggressive retorts make the most impact. After-all the crowd awaits expectantly for more bad behaviour from both sides. Like a schoolyard full of kids egging on the fisticuffs. Imagine the magnanimous impact if George W. had said ‘we will not be provoked’ and did not go to war, but quietly went about making life safer in the world. Rather than using it as an excuse to roll back rights, wage oil wars and corporate takeovers. Imagine if he had tended his wounded and kept the peace. He would not have lost the good will and sorrow the world showed his nation directly after the September 11 attacks. Can enough moderates speak up against Jyllands-Posten without declaring violence over cartoons?  There are indeed antisemetic cartoons in arab newspapers, is the difference that people expected better of the west ? If enough moderate muslims demonstrate a sense of proportion and dismiss these cartoons as mistakes, be they childish, politically motivated or uninformed, without making ugly statements of doctrin and ideology the situation can be turned into a venue for the demonstration of why racism and dogma are wrong. The answer is indeed more freedom of speech until dialogue brings a diffused state and peace. It is time for communication.